Archive for the Money Category

Today begins Movember, the month-long event in which men around the world grow mustaches, and others donate to sponsor said mustaches. Your donations go to the Prostate Cancer Foundation and the Lance Armstrong Foundation Today, I’m clean shaven and ready to go! Throughout the month, I’ll post pics of the horrible thing that will be nesting just below my nose.

Yesterday, a co-worker of mine gave me a card that is good for one free iced coffee every wednesday in June. I’m not a fan of Starbucks because 1) they are destroying the independent coffeehouses with their sinister, locust-like swarm tactics, and 2) because their coffee is largely awful. But I found a way to use their own tactics against them…

Since Starbucks are EVERYWHERE, there are two stores on my 10 minute drive to work. I GOT 2 ICED COFFEES TODAY!!! BWA-HA-HA! Suck it, Starbucks!

Look, I’ve done what you asked. I’ve dutifully forwarded every e-mail I got announcing your tracking software. You know, the e-mails stating that I would get “$245.00 for everyone I forward this message to, $243.00 for everyone they send it to, and $241.00 for everyone they send it to.”

Now, I’ve done the math, and even if all my friends are assholes and didn’t send the e-mails along, you still owe me something like $10,000.

Ok…so the otter is reading a book caller…er…OK, so I don’t remember what it’s called or who wrote it. Something like The Big-Box Swindle. Anyway, it’s all about how places like WalMart destroy the economy. Nothing I hadn’t already known about, but it does bring it back out of my peripheral vision.

So…I’ve decided to try to support locally owned businesses. I’ve come up with a 4 phase plan to live a life that is more morally acceptable to me; I’m in phase one of this right now: no more Wal Mart. Yesterday, I went to Marc’s, a local grocery store that I hate because I used to work there, and bought a lunch bag (as I’m also trying to produce less trash…no more plastic bags!).

Phase 2 will involve things like no more Best Buy. Phase 3 will include fast food restaraunts, and phase 4 will be…n-n-no more Borders. *wheeze* *weeze*

Sorry. Still having trouble wrapping my head around that one. We’ll see.

The last possibility is being investigated by Dennis Kucinich; he is working on demanding a recount. As he says in the below audio clips, he is not neccessarily trying to prove that there was machine rigging; he just wants the American people to know if they can trust the voting process.

Kucinich is looking for donations to help pay for the New Hampshire recount. Even if you don’t live in New Hampshire, this is important…many other states use these voting machines, and if this vote was indeed rigged, it could happen to your state too. Go to the Kucinich website and give him your support in this, even if you are not a Kucinich supporter.

EDIT: (It has come to my attention (thanks, dash!) that the link to contribute to the cost of the recount and Dennis’ campaign contribution link are one and the same. That’s a little dissapointing, but I’ll give dennis the benefit of the doubt this time. Anyway, if his campaign does post a link for just the recount, I’ll post it. Until then, if you want to contribute to the recount, sit tight.)

So…tonight is karaoke night at Jose’s Landing, a bar that the otter go to when we can afford a night out. Karaoke night is good there because of its mix of pop, rock, r&b, and (ugh) country music. It is not uncommon to hear “Tear You Apart” in the style of She Wants Revenge, followed by “Sunday Girl”, the Blondie sone as sung by the otter. Follow that with someone singing that damn “Save a Horse” song, then finish with me singing either “Last Night” by the Strokes or “All These Things I’ve Done” by the Killers. Good times.

One thing, which I hear about in the classes I tutor, that really bugs me is that the smoking ban has caused businesses to lose patronage. This pisses me off to no end.

See, the logic of the argument is that the non-smokers were meddling, and they stopped the smokers from smoking inside the bars. Because of this, bars lose business; ergo, the non-smokers are destroying businesses with their greedy desire for fresh air.

Let me propose something which is A) a different way of looking at this and B) absolutely fucking correct: the smokers are destroying business.

How can I say this? Well, I’m at the bar; I’m spending my money. I don’t smoke. The smokers aren’t coming out because that cigarette (or 2, or 5) is more important than a night out, a beer with friends, and the entire economy.

Of course, there are some smokers who do come out, and they go out to the smoking patio to smoke. I’m cool with them. they get to smoke, I get to breath, we all have fun.